Iowa Corn Indy 250 Delivers 15th Place Finish for SFHR

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Josef Newgarden made the most out of his second IZOD IndyCar Series run at the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The sophomore driver for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing started in the 22nd position due to a last minute unscheduled engine change and fought his way through the field to finish 15th.

“We made it to the end with no incidents, and gained seven spots after being in a hole that was no fault to our own,” Newgarden said. “Not a bad day from the spots we gained. We definitely wanted more, but I think we did the best we could for the situation at hand.”

“With it being such a short track it can definitely catch you off guard if you get unlucky with traffic or you’re not quite on top of it for one stint,” Newgarden said. “That makes it easier to fall back and hard to regain your spots again, but for us we just worked through it as best we could.”

The 22-year-old gained four positions in the first two laps, but fell back to the 22nd spot during his second stint. Newgarden never gave up, pushing his way to 15th place during his fourth and final stretch.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 is the fourth oval on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, and for the second year driver the varied tracks have been an exciting challenge.

“It’s been tough because all of these ovals have been different, but we’ve been strong at super speedways,” Newgarden said. “Indy was a heartbreaker for us, but I think we’re strong on those types of tracks.”

Newgarden will jump back in the No. 67 car on July 7 for the Pocono INDYCAR 400. Pocono Raceway, also known as the tricky triangle, will give SFHR another shot at a tri-oval track.

“We should have a good package in Pocono,” Newgarden said. “I’m super excited to go there, and I think we’ll have a great car.”

The Pocono INDYCAR 400 will air live on ABC at 12 p.m. ET on July 7. For all of the latest team updates, follow @SFHRindy on Twitter and Instagram.